Yes David, you are absolutely correct about pakem and Javanese keris.
Quite frankly, I do not know if pakem applies to keris other than Javanese keris, or not. I think it possibly does to Balinese keris, but it seems to be well buried in the past there, in any case.
But this is really a hypothetical, because to the best of my knowledge there is only one place where experimentation is being carried out in respect of new keris forms and new pamors, and that place is Jawa. I include Madura as a part of Jawa, as it is in the province of East Jawa.
So, if this question of permissible variation is raised, it can only apply to the place where it is currently occurring, and it must be addressed in that context.
|